Safety razor



Sept. 13, 1932- RQE. THOMPSON 7 1,877,082

SAFETY RAZOR Filed NOV. 1'7. 1930 Patented Sept. I 13, 1932 UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE RALPH E. THOMPSON, OF BROOKLIN E, MASSACHUSETTS,ASSIGNOR TO GILLETTE SAFETY RAZOR COMPANY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ACORPORATION OF DELAWARE SAFETY RAZOR Application filed November 17,1930. Serial No. 496,170.

transversely flexible blade, comprises a cap and a guard member,betweenwhich the blade is'clamped to flex it in its shaving position. Thelongitudinal edge of the cap member bends the blade over the guard toplace the shaving edges of the blade in theirproper position relativetheedges of the guard. The

position of theedge of the blade, relative the 5 guard, determ nes thedegree of exposure of the cutting edge and the closeness of the shaveobtained by the user. 7

The shaving edge of this type of safety razor blade ordinarily cannot beadjusted without (loosening the cap and guard, since the position of theshaving edge is defined by the physical proportions and relativeposition of the bladeand of, the cap and guard members. It is desirableto be'able to adjust the edge exposure of a flexible safety razor bladeto enable the blade to be used for shaves of varying degrees ofcloseness. According to this invention, a safety razo is provided, theshaving edges of the blade of which can be adjusted as desired to give aclose or a coarse shave. This is accomplished in one embodiment of theinvention by-having extensions on the cap member press -..against oneside of the razor blade to force it closer to the guard member in theclamping operation, thus giving a blade with a low edge exposure whichwill give a close shave and which, when the blade is placed in an- Iother position, will fit into openings in the b1ade,leaving the bladeedge in its normal position. I

7 he invention will now be described with reference to the drawing, ofwhich: r Fig. 1- is a plan view of one embodimentof a safety razorblade, according to this invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of a'cap member adapted to co-operatewith theblade'of Fig, 1'

Fig. 3 is a side view of the blade, in section,

showing the blade of Fig. 1, the cap member of Fig. 2, and the ordinaryguard member in assembled relation, the blade in this figure having itsedges in -their normal position;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3, showing how one edge of the blade isgiven a low exposure by contact with the extensions on the cap member;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of another embodiment of the razor blade,according to this invention; a

Fig. 6 is a plan view of a cap member 7 adapted to co-operate with theblade of Fig.

Fig. "7 is a side sectional viewof the blade of Fig. 5 placed on the capmember of Fig. 6 in one position, and

Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. 7, showing the blade on the cap memberin another position, in this instance being adjusted to give a low edgeexposure.

Referring now to Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive of the drawing, the transverselyflexible blade 10 is provided with the central slot 11 which serves toposition the blade on the rib 12 of the cap member 13. The blade 10 ispro vided adjacent and near each end of one of its shaving edges, withthe small openings 14. he cap member 13 is provided with smallprojections or studs 15 adjacent and near each end of one of itslongitudinal edges, which are adapted to fit into the small openings 14of the blade 10. When the blade is placed-relative the cap member sothat the openings 14 fit over the projections 15, the adjustmentlof theblade edges is unaffected by the projections 15, this condition beingshown clearly by the drawing, the blade being there shown clampedbetween the cap member 13 and the guard 16.

When it is desired that one of the blade edges be given a low exposure,so as to afl'ord a lighter shave, the blade is turned over on the capmember 13 so that the openings14 are adjacent the opposite side of thecap member to that which contains the projections 15.

of the blade, against which they contact, so

' that it is closer to the edge of the guard than it normally is, thusgiving a low edge exposure and affording a coarser or lighter shave. Theother edge of the .blade has a normal exposure, this condition beingshown trated by Figs. 5 to 8 inclusive, comprises the transverselyflexible blade 17 which is provided with the central opening 18, throughwhich the threaded stud of the cap member extends. The blade containsthe four circular openings 19 which are arranged one near each of thefour corners of the blade and the four smaller circular openings 20,

each of which is arranged adjacent one of the openings 19. The distancebetween the centers of the'circular openings 19 and the distance betweenthe centers of the circular openings 20 is exactly the same, bothlongitudinally and transversely of the blade. The cap member 21-, whichis adapted to cooperate with the blade of Fig. 5, is provided with thefour peaked extensions 22, which are spaced apart both transversely andlongitudinally the same distance as the distance between the pairs ofopenings 19 and the pairs of openings 20 in the blade, 'and which areeach side.

adapted to engage one or the other of the sets of openings 19 and 20,according to how the blade 17 is placed on the cap member 21.

Fig. 7 illustrates the blade 17 placed on the cap member 21 so that thepeaked-projections 22 fit into the large openings 19 of the blade. Theopenings 19 have sufficient diameter to entirely clear the peakedprojections 22, so that the projections when the blade is placed in thisposition, do not interfere with the blade adjustment. This condition isshown by Fig. 7, the blade inthis instance, when clamped in its holder,having normal edge exposure on both cutting edges. The circular openings20 have a smaller diameter than the openings 19, and their size is'soarranged, with respect to the size of the peaked projections 22, thatwhen the blade is placed on the cap member with the peaked projectionsextending into the small openings 20 the blade is placed and held apredetermined distance from the cap member 21. With the :blade so laced,it has, when it is clamped between t e cap and guard members of therazor, its cutting edges depressed nearer the guard edges, due to theprojections 22, so that the blade has a less blade exposure on each sideand gives, therefore, a lighter shave on In this embodiment of theinae'mosa vention, the blade is shifted longitudinally along the capmember so that one or the other of the sets of openings of the bladeengage.

with the projections on the cap member when a close-or a normal shave isdesired.

With the embodiment shownby Figs. 5 to 8 inclusive, obviously, theprojections 22 could be left ofl of one of the longitudinal sides of thecap member so that one edge of the blade would always give a normalshave and the other could be. shifted to give a light or anormal shave,as desired.

Whereas-rope or more embodiments of the invention have been'describedfor the purpose of' illustration, itshould be understood that theinvention is not limited to the exact details disclosed, as manydepartures may he made by those skilled .in the art without departingfrom the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is: v

1. A safety razor comprising a blade adapted to be transversely flexedbetween two clamping elements of the razor, apertures in said bladebehind one of its shaving edges, and projections on one of said clampingmembers which fit partially into said apertures behind one edge of saidblade and which space said edge of saidv blade from the clamping memberwith which they are associated.

2. A safety razor blade. havingadjacent the shaving edge a pair ofsm'allapertures and a pair of larger apertures, the distance between theapertures of one o-f the pairs being the same as the distance betweenthe apertures of the other of said pairs.

8. A safety razor comprising, in combination, a blade, a clamping memberfor sup-.

pqrting said blade, a large aperture'and a small aperture in said bladeadjacent a shaving edge, and peaked blade positioning pro-.

jections on'saidmember, said blade being adapted to be placed in twopositions on said extensions, in one position the projections passfreely through the larger of said apertupes to give one degree ofexposure of the shaving edge, and in the other position the projectionscontact with the sides of said small aperture to shift the edge of theblade to give another degree of edge exposure.

4.; A safety razor blade having an internal aperture, a cutting edge,and openings of. unequal size located in similarly arranged pairsadjacent to both ends of said edge.

5. A safety razor comprising, in combination, a guard member having afulcrum shoulder, a flexible blade'having spaced apertures therein, anda cap member having correspondingly spaced projecting studs arranged toengage the blade and bend its cutting edge over said. fulcrum shoulderor to pass into said apertures without bending the blade according tothe position in which the blade is presented.

6. A safety razor comprising, in combination, a ard having a fulcrumshoulder, a flexible lade having symmetrically disposed cutting edgesand an opening adjacent to one of said edges, and a cap having a studarranged enter said opening when the blade is presented in one positionand to engage the blade and bend its cutting edge over sald fulcrumshoulder when the blade is presented in another position. 7. A safetyrazor including a guard of convex contour, a flexible blade havinoppositely disposed cutting edges and space openings adjacent to one ofsaid edges, and a caphaving projections so located as to enter saidopenings when the blade is presented to the cap in one position and toengage the surface of the blade and bend its edge toward the guard whenresented in another position.

- Signed at oston, Massachusetts, this 15th I day of November 1930.

RALPH E. THOMPSON.

